Resumen

In 1983, more than 274 000 ha of Peruvian wilderness were formally protected by the establishment of Rio Abiseo National Park. The park is unique in Latin America by protecting numerous archaeological sites, most unaltered by looting or other postabandonment human impacts, within a forested watershed that covers more than 3 km of vertical topographic relief. In August 1992, during a 4-day symposium in Lima, archaelogists, botanists, geographers, geologists, and zoologists evaluated information gathered in the park under the auspices of natural- and cultural-resource inventory efforts launched in 1985